Horse Racing in the Virgin Islands: Culture, Money & the Deal on the Table
Horse Racing in the Virgin Islands
A tradition that predates most living residents, a decade of broken promises, a deal that may be more about slot machines than saddles, and a Legislature that just kicked the vote to August. Here is the full picture — the culture, the money, the arguments on both sides, and what is actually on the table.
Two tracks. Two very different stories.
Horse racing in the U.S. Virgin Islands takes place across two facilities — the Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack on St. Thomas and the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack on St. Croix. They are governed separately, managed separately, and have had dramatically different fortunes over the past decade. St. Thomas resumed racing in 2024 after a seven-year post-hurricane shutdown. St. Croix has not held a race in close to a decade, despite a franchise agreement that has been in place since 2016.
The current legislative fight — over Bill No. 36-0313, which the Senate delayed in a special session on July 22, 2026 — is primarily about the St. Croix track and who gets to rebuild and operate it. But it is also about something else: the long-term control of Video Lottery Terminal gaming across the territory, and whether that question is being answered through a horse racing bill.
By the Numbers.
Race days held at Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack since reopening in 2024 — the first races on St. Thomas since Hurricanes Irma and Maria
Years the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack on St. Croix has sat idle — VIGL held the franchise for most of that time without hosting a single race
Senate vote on July 22, 2026 to delay Bill 36-0313 — sending the racetrack deal to a Committee of the Whole hearing on August 19
A tradition older than most people remember
Horse racing in the Virgin Islands is not a sport in the conventional mainland sense. It is a community institution — tied to family, neighborhood pride, island rivalry, and the rhythms of the agricultural traditions that shaped both St. Thomas and St. Croix long before either racetrack existed in its current form. On St. Croix in particular, the culture around horsemanship runs deep: young men have been training horses, riding bareback, and learning the informal apprenticeship of the stable since childhood, with older horsemen passing skills down across generations in a structure that has no official curriculum and no government program behind it.
Racing on St. Croix previously occurred about four times a year, anchored around major holidays and cultural celebrations. On St. Thomas, the Carnival Races at Clinton E. Phipps are a signature event of the annual celebration — the track fills with families, food vendors, and inter-island visitors in a way that no other single sporting event in the territory replicates. The Lt. Governor's Cup, the Race to the Poles, and the inter-island showdown format that puts St. Thomas and St. Croix horses against each other carry the same cultural weight as a derby — it is not just a race, it is a statement about which island is producing better animals and better riders.
What was lost when the tracks went dark was not just the sport. It was the informal economy that surrounds it — feed suppliers, veterinarians, farriers, trainers, jockeys, vendors, and the horse owners themselves, many of whom are not wealthy investors but working-class Virgin Islanders who have poured their own money into animals they love and a tradition they believe in.
In Their Own Words
For generations, horse racing has been part of who we are as Virgin Islanders. It has brought families together, supported small businesses, created jobs and given many of our young men a place to learn discipline, responsibility and pride.
One of the strongest reasons for moving this agreement forward is the opportunity horse racing creates for our young people. Bringing horse racing back gives them something productive to belong to and another path to stay engaged, focused and off the streets.
Horse racing was woven into the cultural fabric of the territory, particularly on St. Croix.
I grew up playing music at the St. Croix track.
Up to today it haunts me. A formal training program is necessary — we cannot keep sending boys onto horses without structure and safety.
The people who care about this sport, the horsemen who have kept it alive and the communities that have waited years for progress deserve a decision.
Horse racing is one of the few traditions in the territory that cuts across class, district, and island — a shared civic space where families from different neighborhoods occupy the same grandstand. Its decade-long absence on St. Croix has left a cultural void that no other event has filled. Supporters argue that its restoration is inseparable from St. Croix's broader sense of identity and recovery.
The informal apprenticeship system around St. Croix horsemanship has historically provided structured mentorship for young men outside of school and organized sports. The May 2026 groundbreaking for the Virgin Islands Equestrian Training Center on St. Croix — the first formal jockey school in the territory — represents an attempt to institutionalize what has always existed informally. Without a functioning track, the training program has nowhere to lead.
Under the proposed agreement with Southland Gaming, the GVI would not bear the cost of rebuilding the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack. The deal includes a performance bond of up to $12 million and requires substantial completion within 36 months, with at least one interim race day before December 30, 2026. Supporters argue this is the first agreement in a decade that actually has deadlines, accountability mechanisms, and a private entity putting real money behind the promises.
Race days generate concentrated economic activity: purses paid to horse owners, employment for trainers, jockeys, grooms, veterinarians, and track staff, and vendor income for food and drink sellers who set up around the facility. The proposed agreement guarantees up to $800,000 in annual purses for St. Croix races. For a community where good-paying informal employment is scarce, the ecosystem around a functioning track is not trivial.
The central criticism of Bill 36-0313 is that it is not primarily a horse racing bill. It is a gaming expansion bill that uses horse racing as its vehicle. The agreement would give Southland Gaming long-term exclusive control over Video Lottery Terminal operations on St. Croix — a market Southland does not currently dominate there — bundled into a racetrack deal. Critics including a VI Daily News letter writer and multiple senators argue the territory deserves an open, transparent debate about gaming expansion on its own terms, not wrapped inside a cultural issue.
VIGL Operations received its franchise agreement in 2016 and held the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack for close to a decade without hosting a single race. President Elroy Bates Jr. of the Flamboyant Park Horsemen Association testified before the Legislature that VIGL could not answer when races would happen — while paying $9,000 a month in rent that barely touched the cost of the idle facility. St. Croix residents have heard versions of "construction begins soon" since at least 2021. Skepticism about any new timeline is not cynicism — it is experience.
Sen. Dwayne DeGraff and others raised pointed concerns about provisions in the agreement granting Southland Gaming long-term exclusivity and elements of self-regulation over gaming operations — a structure senators compared unfavorably to the VIHFA situation, where weak oversight enabled the fraud that led to a federal conviction and ultimately a HUD funding suspension. One senator explicitly cited a 2007 U.S. Department of the Interior OIG report on VLTs as a warning the Legislature should not ignore.
The St. Thomas track has faced its own credibility crisis. Between the reopening in May 2024 and January 2025, seven horses died at the Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack. Racing was suspended and a commission investigation launched. The inquiry identified preexisting injuries, medication practices, the age and health of horses, and track surface conditions as contributing factors. The track reopened for Carnival 2025 following maintenance — but the deaths raised questions about whether the territory has the regulatory infrastructure to protect the animals at the center of the cultural tradition it wants to restore.
Senate President Milton Potter opened the July 22 special session by questioning why the governor was prioritizing a racetrack agreement over what he called more pressing crises — the WAPA blackouts, infrastructure failures, and the territory's broader fiscal situation. The session itself was delayed because a WAPA outage hit St. Thomas that morning. For senators weighing an 8-hour special session on gaming and horse racing against constituents without reliable power, the optics were difficult.
There is no publicly available economic impact study for horse racing in the USVI. DSPR testified before the Legislature in November 2025 that the Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack is "a vital cultural and economic asset" — but no attendance figures, gate revenue numbers, or independent economic analysis were included in public testimony. Eight race days since the 2024 reopening and no public data on how many people attended, how much was wagered, or what the net fiscal impact has been. Supporters are making the economic argument largely on faith and tradition, not numbers.
Rebuilds and Operates the Idle Track
Southland Gaming Virgin Islands (formerly Southland Gaming of the VI, now SGVI Inc.) would rebuild and operate the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack, replacing VIGL Operations which held the franchise since 2016 without hosting races. Track resurfacing and barn renovation must be complete within 8 months of construction start. Substantial project completion required within 36 months. At least one interim race day required before December 30, 2026 if safe.
Continues and Formalizes Southland's Role
Southland Gaming, which has been operating the St. Thomas track and funding racing since 2024, would have its role formally codified under the agreement. The 2026 racing season including the Lt. Governor's Cup is already underway. The track has certificates of occupancy for grandstand, jockey facilities, and barns issued in September 2024.
$800,000 Annual Guarantee for St. Croix
The agreement provides up to $800,000 in guaranteed annual purses for St. Croix, capped at $100,000 per race day once the track is operational, with potential for growth as revenues increase. For St. Thomas, Southland had previously committed up to $600,000 annually toward purses under its existing arrangement.
$12 Million Bond With Hard Deadlines
Unlike previous agreements, the revised deal includes a performance bond of up to $12 million — real financial exposure for Southland if construction timelines are missed. Gov. Bryan emphasized this repeatedly as the key accountability mechanism distinguishing this agreement from the decade of empty promises that preceded it.
STT/STJ Share Doubled to 6%
The revised agreement — submitted after the original April 2026 proposal drew concerns — doubled the St. Thomas and St. John Horsemen Association's share of racino revenue from 3% to 6%, added a 5-year minimum commitment from SGVI as race promoter, removed the full gross receipts tax exemption for entertainment activities at the tracks, and added quarterly gaming revenue reporting requirements.
Committee of the Whole · August 19 on St. Croix
The Senate voted 8-6 with one abstention on July 22, 2026 to send Bill 36-0313 to a Committee of the Whole hearing on August 19 on St. Croix, with a full Senate vote planned for August 21. Four senators voted against the delay and pushed for an immediate up-or-down vote. Gov. Bryan publicly called the delay "a failure of leadership." The outcome of the August session will determine whether St. Croix racing returns in 2026.
Where Senators Stood on July 22
I don't believe that a couple more weeks of us vetting the bill and getting it right is going to cause any harm. We are not saying that we're not voting for the bill, we're not saying we don't support the bill. We're saying the bill has far-reaching implications. Let us review it.
I support horse racing. Take out the exclusivity, take out the self-regulation, and you have my vote.
If we're going to change the laws, let's do it. But not under the guise of horse racing.
The governor and horse racing stakeholders have since worked out the issues that originally concerned him, and he was ready to vote.
Senators had the opportunity to recess, convene as the Committee of the Whole, receive testimony and require every member to publicly vote yes or no. That did not happen.
VIGL has had the Randall Doc James Racetrack for almost 8 years without hosting races and could not answer as to when races would happen again in St. Croix.
The question the Legislature has not answered
The cultural argument for horse racing in the USVI is real and well-documented. The economic argument is largely untested — there is no public attendance data, no published revenue breakdown, no independent economic impact study for either the St. Thomas or St. Croix track. Eight race days have been held since the 2024 St. Thomas reopening and no public numbers exist for how many people attended, what was wagered, or what the net fiscal contribution to the territory was.
What Bill 36-0313 also does — and what senators like DeGraff and Potter argued deserves its own debate — is restructure the long-term gaming landscape of St. Croix by cementing Southland Gaming's dominant position in VLT operations there. Whether that is a good deal for the territory is a separate question from whether horse racing should be restored. The Legislature has so far declined to separate the two. August 19 is when those questions have to be answered in public, on St. Croix, with the horsemen in the room.
The Money Behind Both Tracks
What has been spent on St. Thomas, what is proposed for St. Croix, and what it costs to run a race day.
Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack
St. Thomas · Estate Nadir / Estate Bovoni
Randall "Doc" James Racetrack
St. Croix · Near Henry E. Rohlsen Airport
The Full Picture.
Total private investment from Southland Gaming across both tracks — $11M+ on St. Thomas (complete) and up to $25M on St. Croix (proposed)
Combined government set-asides — $3.6M for St. Thomas and $3.1M for St. Croix — held by DSPR outside the Southland agreements
Combined annual purse guarantees once both tracks are fully operational — $600K for St. Thomas and up to $800K for St. Croix
Sources: St. Thomas Source; St. John Source; St. John Tradewinds; Virgin Islands Daily News; VI Consortium; VI News Online; St. Croix Times; VI Free Press; Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands (legvi.org); Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands (vi.gov); Southland Gaming Virgin Islands (racetrack.southlandgaming.com); Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation testimony, November 2025; U.S. Department of the Interior OIG; Virgin Islands Horse Racing Commission. Bill 36-0313 status as of July 22, 2026. Committee of the Whole hearing scheduled August 19, 2026 on St. Croix. Full Senate vote scheduled August 21, 2026. VIIQ will update this page following the August session.